1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to improvements in refuse compactors and more particularly to such compactors as are used in passenger-carrying aircrafts or the like flying vehicles where a relatively large amount of refuse accumulates during flights, rendering space-saving refuse compaction essential.
2. Description of Prior Art
U.S. Pat. No. 4,700,623 of Oct. 20, 1987 discloses a refuse compactor including a compaction ram mounted in a cabinet in which a disposable refuse container may be inserted. The ram is used to occasionally compact refuse that is loaded by the aircraft personnel into the refuse container. To facilitate removal of the container after compaction, one of the side walls of the cabinet is made laterally movable to allow release of the frictional force developed between the refuse container and the cabinet walls during compaction. The operating device which is responsible for driving the ram as well as for moving away the one side wall of the compaction chamber after compaction has been completed to give some slack to the container and thus make its removal easier, is exclusively hydraulic and involves a highly complex control valve system which is not only costly but also requires frequent and appropriate inspection and maintenance to ensure a reliable operation.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,719,852 of Jan. 19, 1988 discloses another refuse compactor in the form of a cabinet defining two aligned and communicating chambers, a front chamber used as a compaction chamber and intended to receive a disposable refuse container, and a rear chamber serving to store the container filled with compacted refuse when the same is moved from the compaction chamber. A door, hinged to a sidewall of the cabinet between the two chambers, is capable of moving from an active position, in which it separates the two chambers, to a retracted position in which it is swung against a sidewall of the storage chamber by a filled refuse container as the latter is pushed into the storage chamber. When in the storage chamber, the stored filled container serves by its front panel as a support wall for the rear panel of a new container to be filled in the compaction chamber.
This refuse compactor is also efficient but has a disadvantage. Indeed, once the filled container is in the storage chamber and when, as aforesaid, its front panel serves as a support wall and is subjected to the pressure applied by the rear panel of a second container under compaction in the front chamber, the side panels of the stored first container are forceably applied against the adjacent walls of the storage chamber. As a result, it is very hard to remove the two containers when both are compactly filled.
Seemingly to avoid the above drawbacks, an alternative embodiment is suggested wherein the storage chamber has a chute, beneath it, into which the filled container in the rear chamber may be dropped for storage. In this manner, the aforesaid hinged door may be repositioned across the two chambers to serve as a support wall for the rear panel of a new container. This solution is only partial as it does not release the pressure of the compacted refuse against the circumscribing panels of the container. Also, it implies the provision of a compactor of a much larger size thereby taking up more valuable aircraft space.